Social:
Author: Kemo Logan
School/Organization:
Shaw Middle School
Year: 2006
Seminar: Visual Art and Society
Keywords: African American History, American History, Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, Romare Bearden
School Subject(s): Arts, Languages
My intentions are to have the seventh grade students reflect and discuss social themes that were prevalent during the Harlem Renaissance period, then compare and contrast them to social themes today. Students will discuss point of view as expressed in Langston Hughes poems and Romare Bearden’s collages as well as principles that contributed to the mood of Bearden’s artistic work. The curriculum seeks to make students aware of the ties between various art forms in the Harlem Renaissance— prose, poetry, visual art.
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My intentions are to have the seventh grade students reflect and discuss social themes that were prevalent during the Harlem Renaissance period, then compare and contrast them to social themes today. Students will discuss point of view as expressed in Langston Hughes poems and Romare Bearden’s collages as well as principles that contributed to the mood of Bearden’s artistic work. The curriculum seeks to make students aware of the ties between various art forms in the Harlem Renaissance— prose, poetry, visual art.
The Harlem Renaissance was a period in American cultural history when Black artists felt a need to contribute their African heritage and pride in a positive way to the visual, performing and literary art (Carroll 75). The Harlem Renaissance had its origins in the urban migrations of black people during and immediately following World War I. Hundreds of thousands of blacks left the rural South as economic conditions worsened and political oppression grew intolerable. In the decade before 1920, there had been, on the average, one lynching every six days. An organization that terrorized blacks throughout the South, the KKK, had been reactivated in 1915. The North promised jobs, housing and educational opportunities; the war increased demand for American products; and Northern manufacturers were badly in need of unskilled and semi-skilled labor. The final destination was Harlem, an attractive New York City neighborhood that had recently opened its door to blacks. Harlem became the center of African American political and cultural life. Scholars have given the title Harlem Renaissance to this period (Woodward 25). The Harlem Renaissance was a flowering of African-American social thought that was expressed through the visual arts, as well as through music, literature, theater and dance. All African-Americans were encouraged to celebrate their heritage and to become “The New Negro,” a term coined in1925 by sociologist and critic Alain LeRoy Locke (Edwards 1994). Students will discuss point of view, as expressed in Langston Hughes’ poems and Romare Bearden’s collages. They will compare and contrast this with the point of view of Faith Ringgold’s quilts and textiles. Students need to be aware of ties between Harlem Renaissance era writers, poets, and artists, as well as their connection with the present day. Langston Hughes was from the Midwest. He was born in Joplin, Missouri, and grew up in Kansas and Ohio. He came to New York City to attend Columbia University a school he had chosen because it was located near Harlem (Gates 312). Romare Bearden grew up in a middle-class African-American family from Charlotte,North Carolina. His parents Bessye and Howard were both college educated. Many southern black families migrated to the North and relocated in Harlem. Bearden’s mother was the New York editor of the Chicago Defender and became a prominent, social and political figure in Harlem. Langston Hughes frequently visited the Bearden family home. Social and intellectual gatherings would become a significant force in Bearden’s lifestyle (Greenberg 24). This curriculum unit will make a contemporary connection through the work of textile artist Faith Ringgold, who is known for her story quilts. Story quilt is an art form that combines quilted material, cloth, paint and text to create a narrative. Among Faith Ringgold’s most famous works are The French Collection Series and Tar Beach. Faith Ringgold’s quilts concern the experience of the Black female in America. For example, Cassie, the narrator of Tar Beach, dreams of being free to go wherever she wants for the rest of her life. Cassie’s father was excluded from the labor union like countless numbers of African-Americans and Native Americans simply because they were “colored of a half-bred Indian, like they say” (Ringgold 20). Students need to recognize and apply linguistic meanings through figurative language in African-American: story telling, poetry, collages, visual arts and quilting of the Harlem Renaissance. This curriculum will help the Shaw students to develop an understanding of the many perspectives and voices of our past, present and future through poems and visual arts of African-Americans. Enrollment at Shaw Middle school, where I teach, has decreased over the last several years from 750 to presently 572 students. Next year Shaw will house only seventh and eighth grade students. The Race / Ethnic composition for Shaw for the years 20052006 is as follows: African American 98.3%, White 0.7%, Asian 0.0%, Latino 0.9% and Other 0.2%. Because of the high concentration of African American students, I want to make the students more aware of and familiar with the great works of the Harlem Renaissance period. Shaw’s physical plant was built in 1922 and has many murals on its exterior and interior walls. Philadelphia School District mandates that all students complete a Service Learning Project by the end of their 8th grade year, and murals have been a part of that. Murals have been painted by Shaw students both in the school and in other locations as part of the Network Arts Program. Under the direction of Network Arts coordinator Josey Stamm students have completed three mosaic murals. The first mural, which is housed on the 3rd floor of Shaw, is in the Arts and Music Academy and is entitled “Coltrane Quest.” This mural depicts the artistic contributions of musician John Coltrane. The group consisted of 5th-8th grade students who studied the life and accomplishments of Mr. Coltrane and designed the mural. The second mural is located in the Carnivore House at the Philadelphia Zoo. The students researched environmental protection strategies. The mural depicts animals from around the world. The third mural located on Shaw’s first floor, adjacent to a marble hallway, is entitled “History in the 20th Century.” It depicts cultural, technological and political aspects of recent history. The murals at Shaw show that students are eager to learn and participate in projects that enhance their school environment. They are also eager to acquire new knowledge about their own history and background. My curriculum, which connects Harlem Renaissance era arts to those of today, will help students to do this.
This unit will have three different components corresponding to the three individuals discussed. Faith Ringgold’s subsection will start in October for two to three periods in the classroom. Romare Bearden’s subsection will take place in February or March and consist of one to three periods. Langston Hughes’ subsection will cover one to three weeks starting in April and students will discuss several of his poems then. . The final outcome of the class is to have students make collages and quilts. We will start with the foundation strategy. The foundation strategy activates student’s prior knowledge about collages, quilts and the Harlem Renaissance. During the unit, students will work collaboratively. The collaborative process applies the concept “two hands are better than one “ to the learning environment. Cooperative learning is an extensively researched instructional method in which students are divided into small groups (2-6 members) to achieve the outcome. Reciprocal teaching will also be used. This approach facilitates an interactive dialogue between the teacher and students about content/material with summarizing, generating questions, clarifying and predicting. Networks will be formed to facilitate researching information. Involving students in a network is motivational, meets the needs of many students, and facilitates interdisciplinary learning. A performance event or exhibition is an assessment based on an observation of a student’s actual performance on a given task or project. At the conclusion of this unit, students will have a chance to exhibit the collages and textiles they created. A storyboard provides a visual means for conceptualizing and organizing information in a scenario. Students will learn storyboarding in their study of elements such as perspective, lighting, texture, composition, and line. Story maps identify literary elements such as main characters, setting, problem, major events, problem solution, and a theme for a story. Students will use story maps in analyzing both literary and visual works of art. Faith Ringgold’s storytelling is by way of quilts and books. Students will develop an understanding of the many perspectives and voices of our past, present and future, realizing that history is political and dynamic. The study of Faith Ringgold’s works such as Tar Beach and Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky will help to foster skill in visual analysis and literacy. Students will view twelve different copies of her great work, and especially Harlem Renaissance Party and Who’s Afraid of Aunt Jemina? Students will apply knowledge of language structure, language convention, spelling and punctuation, media techniques, and figurative language. They will critique and discuss print and non-print texts. The Know/Want/Learned is a strategy that models the active thinking needed when reading new material or participating in a learning activity. It encourages the student to think about ideas and to ask questions while reading. The strategy is a five step process that can be used across the curriculum at all grade levels, with any size group or with a whole class. This strategy will be used as a way to introduce material by the artists being studied Students will look at pictures from book by Jan Greenberg on Romare Bearden’s Collage of Memories. Romare Bearden did not forget his upbringing, but instead used childhood memories of Southern and Northern cities and people to get the message across of the Harlem renaissance. Students will collect material to be used in making the quilt(s). We will ask Shaw’s Arts and Music Academy get involved by having a competition to see which class can collect the largest amount of clean reusable material for the quilts. Students will also video the process of interviewing elderly individuals who knew members of a quilt bee. Students will complete Venn diagrams comparing and contrasting two books by Faith Ringgold. Students will construct Venn diagram based on a Romare Bearden collage and Langston Hughes poem that uses figurative language. Students will keep a daily journal for retelling or summarizing the events of the day. Activities can take place during regular school hours or during the extended day program. Students will reflect on artwork by comparing the multiple purposes for creating works of art during the Harlem Renaissance era. Students will describe and analyze how personal and cultural experiences influenced the development of the Romare Bearden’s collages, Faith Ringgold’s quilting/texture and Langston Hughes’s poetry. Then students will describe, compare, and reflect on a variety of individual responses to Harlem Renaissance artworks and to Philadelphia artworks. They will compare the characteristics of works in two or more art forms that share similar subject matter, historical periods or cultural content. They will also describe and demonstrate ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines such as Reading/Writing are interrelated with the visual arts. The unit will have students collect images that demonstrate figurative language: metaphor, simile, irony and personification. These will be used in creating a collage within the cooperative groups.
Title of the Lesson: Langston Hughes’s Figurative Language in Mother to Son poem. Subject: Reading and Writing Grade: Seventh Length of lesson: 1-3 periods Time: 40-50 minutes Overview of the lesson: Students will read the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. They will reflect and discuss the social themes that were prevalent during the Harlem Renaissance period and in the poem. Objective: Students will identify and analyze how Langston Hughes uses literary devices to convey meanings in the Mother to Son poem. They will make inferences, draw conclusions and discuss the cultural dialect used in some of his the poems. The lesson will also introduce and review background information of the Harlem Renaissance era. Procedure Day 1: Students are given pretest on Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance Each student will be given a copy of the “Mother to Son” poem. Mother to Son Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor- Bare. But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, And reachin’ landin’s And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light. So boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps ‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard. Don’t you fall now- For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. Students will determine whether the poem is written in first or third person point of view. The instructor will make sure students understand that the word “I” in the poem represents the first-person perspective. The instructor will ask students to look for clues, such as pronouns (we, he, she, it, them, us, or you), that would indicate third-person perspective. To further their understanding, students will then be asked to write the same story from two or three different perspectives. Students could pick a current issue in the school, neighborhood or on the national level and write a poem on that social theme. Day 2: Students will be given a copy of Langston Hughes’s poem “Dream Deferred” (Harlem), and asked to perform a similar analysis regarding point of view. Dream Deferred (Harlem) What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over- Like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags Like a heavy load. Or does it explode? Students select one of the following poems by Langston Hughes: “I, Too;” “Little Old Letter;” “The Negro Speaks of Rivers;” and “Still Here.” Students must explain why they made their selection. They will be asked to identify tone, mood, point of view, irony, simile, metaphor and any other form of figurative language used in the poem. They will then review all three poems and identify the social theme for each poem. Materials / resources Background Information on Harlem Renaissance Worksheets on Langston Hughes poems: Mother to Son and Deferred Dreams (Harlem) Vocabulary words: deferred, omniscient, point of view, tone, mood, first-person, thirdperson, inference character, simile, metaphor, irony and figurative language. Assessment Students compare and contrast two poems mentioned above by using a Venn diagram. Post Test on Harlem Renaissance Cooperative Grouping -In the poem “Mother to Son,” recognize the wisdom of the mother’s actions—actions that show her to be a powerful woman. -Students rewrite well-known fairy tales, such as “Cinderella”, “Little Red Riding Hood” or “Goldilocks” and the “Three Bears,” inserting social and moral themes Individual Class work -Students write themselves up as a character in a story. What would they want the reader to know about them and how would they convey it in words? -Students write their own poem expressing at least two of the following core values: compassion, courage, hope, integrity, justice, respect, responsibility and wisdom. -Students discuss the figurative language used in the poem. Assessment: Constructed-response Rewrite this poem in prose form, as if it were a letter from a parent in today’s time to their son or daughter. Title of the lesson: Romare Bearden Collage Subject: Visual Arts and Writing Grade: Seventh Length of lesson: 1-2 periods Time: 45 minutes Overview of the lesson: Have students understand and appreciate Romare Bearden’s collage as an art form. Objectives The students will recognize and appreciate the work of Romare Bearden. They will create a collage based on a masterpiece, and critique art made by other students. Procedure Procedure Use the following questions to direct the discussion of the collages. What are the geometric shapes in the collage(s)? Where do you think the scene took place? Assessment Title of the lesson: Faith Ringgold’s quilts/textiles on social themes. Subject: Visual Arts and Reading/Writing Grade: Seventh Length of lesson: 2-3 periods Time: 45 minutes Overview of the lesson: Students will learn about Faith Ringgold’s depiction of social injustices in her story quilts. Procedure: Students have worksheets on background information on quilts from different time periods. Guided Reading of Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold–summarize the story. Assessment: Identify the tone and mood of the story, and in particular how it discusses racial discrimination. Assessment Reflective Essays Interpretive Drawings Students write a short story using imagery, personification, infer, tone etc. Tentative Trips: Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum, Witmer Quilt Shop, and The Quilt Shop at Miller’s.Lesson Plan 1
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Bearden, Romare and Henry Henderson. A History of African American Artists, New York: Pantheon, 1993. This book deals with the history of artists and their comments on political and social aspects of their work. Bontemps, Arna. American Negro Poetry, New York: Hill and Wang, 1974. This is a great collection of poems opening with James Weldon Johnson and concluding with Marvin Wyche, Jr. Also, the glossary has biographical notes on each poet. Carroll, Andrew et al. 101 Great American Poems, The American Poetry and Literacy Project. New York, Dover 1998. Langston Hughes was one of the many writers of the Harlem Renaissance through his poetry he connected to jazz and the blues Gates Jr., Henry. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2004. Anthology of African American literature writings starting with spirituals, gospel, secular rhymes, ballads, work songs, songs of social change, the blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, hip hop, sermons and prayers, folktales, the literature of slavery and freedom, Harlem Renaissance, Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, and the Blacks Arts Era. Godfrey, Tony. Conceptual Art, New York: Phaidon Press Limited, 1998. Most of the artists evolved from painting and completing sculptors. Explores the ideas behind visual forms with a historical context. Greenberg, Jan. Romare Bearden Collage of Memories, New York: Abrams, 2003.Jan Greenberg’s collection of collages from Romare Bearden and his memories of his life starting with childhood through adulthood. Hirsch Jr., E. D. and Joseph Keat. Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993. Very helpful in explaining proverbs and how they became part of the African American culture because of their vocabulary and dialect. Hughes, Langston. The Langston Hughes Reader: The Selected Writings of Langston Hughes, New York: Braziller, 1958. Langston Hughes through his writings portrayed whites in a comical view of their interaction with African Americans. Hughes, Langston. The Ways of White Folks, New York: Vintage Classics, 1962. Langston Hughes recalls the social injustice of treatment towards the African American culture during the 1920s and 1930s in his writing. Majority of the story should be read by 9th – 12th graders because of some profanity in the story but the teacher can select a certain story to give meaningful information. Hughes, Langston. The Best Short Stories by Black Writers: The Classic Anthology from 1899 to 1967, Boston: Little, Brown, 1967. A superb assembly of stories depicting a great diversity of individuals who did not resemble the popular, advertising icons for the same period of time. Kern-Foxworth, Marilyn. Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Rastus Blacks in Advertising, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Connecticut: Praeger, 1994. A superb eye opening collection on how African Americans were and still are depicted in advertisement. Payne, Lucile. The Lively Art of Writing, Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1982. Effective style of writing that will hold the reader’s interest and is broken – down into six easy chapters. Step by step process of walking the reader through checkpoints of understanding on how to be an effective writer. Ringgold, Faith. Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky, New York: Dragonfly, 1995. Faith Ringgold brings the Underground Railroad to life for young readers through the eyes of Cassie Lightfoot and her brother BeBe. Ringgold, Faith. Tar Beach, New York: Dragonfly, 1991. An African-American girl growing up in Harlem in the 1930s has a dream, to be free and go wherever she wants for the rest of her life. The American Poetry and Literacy Project. 101 Great American Poems, New York: Dover, 1998. American poetry that focuses on popular verse from the 19th and 20th centuries writers. Websites www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/space/mspace.html Tools to help make collages of your own for home use or in the classroom. http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetwit/guide.num Helps teacher to write poetry for appropriate grade level http://sunsite.unc.edu/dykki/poetry Poetry archive on different poets www.liu.edu/cwis/cups/library/aavaahtm African Americans in the Visual Arts: A Historical Perspective for any adult that would like to know about to use in the classroom www.artgallery.umd.edu/exhibit/05 Art Gallery-exhibitions- Faith Ringgold – Education www.madonna.edu/NEH/05/bobbiocurr.htm Urban Poetry: The Black Arts Movement especially that of the Harlem Renaissance www.negroartist.com/references.htm African American Art and Harlem Renaissance Literature Reading 7.1. Apply effective reading strategies to comprehend, organize, synthesize and evaluate texts to construct meaning. Reading 7.2. Read a variety of materials including fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary texts from a diversity of cultures, communication systems, and functional texts. Reading 7.3. Read for a variety of purposes: to seek information, to apply knowledge, to enhance enjoyment; to engage in inquiry and research; to expand world views; to understand individuality, and the heritage of the people in our city (Philadelphia) and Harlem, New York. Listening 7.1. Listen to, read, recognize, and response to literature as a record of human experience that provides individual perspectives. Social Studies 7.1. Promote understanding of multiple perspectives, and reflect the importance of cultural influences. Writing 7.1. Plan, draft, revise, and publish writing using correct grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, and effective vocabulary appropriate for the purpose, context, and audience. Writing 7.2. Write for academic, personal, social, civic, and school-to-career purposes. Writing 7.3. Write in a variety of forms including journals, essays, stories, letters, plays, poems, and reports using figurative language. Writing 7.4.Students will conduct and document inquiry-based research using oral, print, and communication. Viewing 7.1. View media, technology, art work and live performances. Listening 7.1. Listen actively for a variety of purposes including comprehending, interpreting, analyzing, evaluating, responding effectively, and for enjoyment . Listening 2. Recognize the diversity of oral English language use, patterns, and dialects, and understand its implications across social contexts, cultures, ethnic groups and geography. Speaking 7.1 Speak for a variety of purposes including informing, persuading, questioning, problem solving, sharing, sharing ideas and poems, reaching consensus, and responding sensitively and respectfully using language appropriate to the context, audience, and purpose. Speaking 7.2. Speak using effective communication skills including enunciation, inflection, volume, fluency, and non-verbal gestures. Visual Arts 7.1. Understand and apply art media, techniques and processes. Visual Arts 7.2. Demonstrate knowledge of elements, principles, and expressive features from diverse historical periods and cultures, especially African, and African-American. Visual Arts 7.3. Recognize, select, and evaluate a variety of subject matter, symbols, and ideas from diverse cultures and historical period especially African, European, and American cultures, in making original works of art. Visual Arts 7.4. Observe, reflect, and value the characteristics, meanings, uses, and merits of one’s own artwork and artwork from diverse cultural groups and historical periods. Visual Arts 7.5. Understand the visual arts and artifacts in relation to historical, social, and cultural contexts, especially African, European, and American cultures. Visual Arts 7.6. Use the visual arts artifacts as a way of understanding ourselves and our communities through racial, cultural, and gender differences and similarities. Visual Arts 7.7. Understand the interconnection between the visual arts and all disciplines. Tentative Trips—locations Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum 31 North Market Street Lancaster, PA 17003 Phone Number: 717. 397.2970 Witmer Quilt Shop 1070 West Main Street New Holland, Pa 17557 The Quilt Shop at Miller’s Route 30 – one mile east of Rt. 896 Materials needed for classroom Chalkboard Paper, poster board Magazine: old editions of EBONY, ESSENCE, JET etc. Construction paper Crayons, makers, pens, pencils Overhead projector Digital camera Scissors GlueAppendix A: Standards
Appendix B: Field Trips/Materials